The Nursing Students Annual Mela

Tansen Nursing School, now a Nepal Government School, lies at the foot of the medical complex.  There are approximately 130 students in a 3-year program.  Some are quite young as only ten years of schooling is required by the gov't.  Most of the instructors are Nepali, but a few expats teach also.  The girls live here in the boarding arrangement.  Beth is one of the expat instructors and supervisors and lives overlooking the school.  She knows what is happening just by listening and looking, as the girls love to be outside.  This last week was a Spring break and Beth helped organize sports teams for them....an effort to satisfy their love of competition and to foster interaction between the  
classes.  I could hear lots of cheering for three days as they played their volleyball tournament on one of the rare flat areas on the hill.  It is surrounded by an extremely high fence for stray balls!

The students love to get out of uniform!

Also the girls had been preparing for some time for the annual highlight....the Mela....a Fair.  This is the only time of the year that boys and men are allowed on the campus, and for these young girls that's a big deal!

Our craft dept. (Beth's class and me) had been making cross-stitch cards to sell.  I had never done counted cross-stitch before, but managed to make two of the seven samples for Beth.  Then I managed to help her finish off some of the many projects she so creatively put together: ruffled sofa pillows, pillowcases, hotpads, aprons, etc.  Most all was sold and the profits of the day go toward scholarships for future nursing students.

     

The Beauty Salon students were eager to get some clients on Friday.....so Jon and I, and some others, gave them some practice.  The Nepali's seem to be like Afghans in that most things are done in groups....not just one person to decide what to do with Dr. Bishop! A whole group.....and they chatter and talk the whole time you're there....their way of supporting one another perhaps.  I arrived to find Jon prone on a cot, covered and waiting for his 'mask' to dry on his face.  The cotton balls were the crowning glory.  What a sport he is!                  

The Salon did many things...headrub, back rub, facials, fancy patterns on every painted nail.  I insisted they leave my toes plain, but it took a few times to convince them.  Jon came down with a bad cold overnight, so I don't know if his facial, head massage and footsoak were good for him!

These women know how to dance!  I wish I knew    more of what they were about....and where they were from.  The students come from all over Nepal, and some costumes and food booths were more ethnic specific.  But I could tell they were enjoying themselves immensely.....and the score of young men who came were too!

 As the day progressed, the audience grew.  Being that Saturday is their day of worship, I think it took til after lunch for folks to be free to come.  

But lunch was provided, for a few rupees!  And after she ate what her grandpa bought for her, she got an ice-cream bar.....and gave us a big  smile.

The little green plates you see are made of large leaves that have been washed and stapled together to make a bowl.  

The girls are eating Mo-Mos.....a filling of various sorts of meat and vegetables and spices, formed into a ball and wrapped by a circle of

ladies serving up food for the crowd.  These are called
Lollipops....Chicken type drumsticks that look like a
stick.

dough like won-tons are made from.  The little twist at the top is a signature.....and they are steamed, not deep-fried....one of the few things that are not.  Jon and I eat at the hospital canteen once a week for lunch....and everything I picked was made with potatoes, somehow...disguised by being fried like a chapati...no, it was  a potato-spinach pancake.  The samosa had potato in it.  The 'soup' had....you guessed it, potato and soybeans.

I'll leave you with one last dance and a happy face on your cheek.....this celebrative day was all that they wanted....fun, food and funds!